I've ironed, I've sorted out house contents insurance, I've produced today's photographic offering (even if it is a bit of a cheat - see above and don't forget to turn your speakers on). I have yet to pick up Donna from Horsham, we've yet to get our hair cut and then we are off down to Shoreham to see HH and visit Shoreham gallery for their open evening followed by a meal with the luscious HH herself. See you all tomorrow!
![]() It's official then. This has been the coldest spring for fifty years. Actually, I remember 1963 and it was a bugger of a year. It was the only year in my entire educational years that we had extra time off due to bad weather. We were all sent home, walking in a crocodile, because the snow was so bad. What a wicked and cruel walk that was too. Being schoolchildren, the boys were in shorts and the girls were in skirts so you can imagine that there were plenty of blue knees by the end of the day. Anyway, not that it matters because that was fifty years ago and these days kids get the day off if a flake of snow even thinks about dropping onto the playground. I'm not saying that we have grown soft but we have grown softer! The sad thing is that two years ago we were gripped in a bit of a heat wave at this time. I would give anything for a heatwave at the moment. Today has been wet again. I was desperately looking around the house for something to photograph that wouldn't require studio lights but it was so incredibly dingy that this was out of the question so I braved the elements and walked into the garden where I found the little sun above. That has been my sun for the day. Actually, that isn't true. There was a funny five minutes when a watery sun appeared but in the time it took me to go downstairs, it had been and gone and rain had replaced it once more. The rest of the day has been "interesting" in that I have been creating stencils for the East Grinstead Museum job (that is coming up this weekend and into next week). I had to find out how long a piece of paper I could fit into my printer, work out how long a piece of wall I have to stencil and then try and fit some words into that length, cut down some heavy grade wallpaper lining paper, print it and then painstakingly cut away the stencilled letters. I just hope that I have been given the right measurements! Right just time for a Youtube clip on why it is hard to be left handed before I go and cook. ![]() Today was a day of doing odds and ends but some of them were important odds and ends. I couldn't stray too far because I was waiting on a delivery so I satisfied myself with doing admin things. I created a couple of disks of clock pictures (from the shoot I did ten days or more back) and then spoke to East Grinstead Museum because next Monday is when all the painting happens and I needed to know what time to arrive. I won't be arriving on Monday morning apparently. To be precise I will be starting at four thirty on Sunday afternoon because certain people who were supposed to be turning up to help out suddenly couldn't make it. That means that unless I pitch up, a lot of heavy shifting and painting would fall to DH who whilst she is a game old lady (with the emphasis on old), isn't really up to the physical effort. Donna has volunteered to come along as well to make sure that things get done in a timely fashion and then on Monday morning I will be back again, bright and early to do the custom paint job ready for the opening of the exhibition on Tuesday. Nothing like pressing deadlines to keep me going... My delivery turned up in reasonable time. Where my old Samsung monitor gave up the ghost a short time ago, I had ordered up a second hand wide screen monitor from Morgan Computers because I have never had anything but excellent value from them. The van turned up, the chap got out with the weirdest looking box I have ever seen. I thought that a flat screen monitor would come in a flattish box but this one didn't. It looked all wrong but the reason for this was that the screen can swivel from landscape to portrait mode (should I wish to do so) and the box was much squarer because of it. The monitor is a refurbished second hand one and I was a bit surprised to find the levels of dirt and dust on it. Normally equipment from Morgan comes looking like new but the whole thing works and looks OK so I can't really complain if I have to do a bit of elbow grease and spit and polish to make it look presentable. I've got a lot of monitor for the money so that is OK. Apart from that and enjoying a little bit of vagrant sunshine this morning, it has done nothing but rain again today. Ho hum. Another soggy summer coming up. To me one of the sounds of hot summers in far flung foreign lands is the sound of cicadas. Here's an educational film about them. Return of the Cicadas from motionkicker on Vimeo. ![]() That's the bank holiday well and truly seen off then! For three whole days we have had some rather nice weather (compared to what we have been having recently) but once again we are back to cooling temperatures and... RAIN! I cannot believe how much has fallen overnight - the back lane to our garage is awash once again. It will be but a short time before the tradesmen in their four wheel drive Chelsea tractors turn it into something resembling Passchendaele. It has rather quelled my enthusiasm for doing anything much today but you know Donna... she is a little powerhouse of energy and spirit so we commenced the day with putting the finishing touches to Iggy. He now sports a fine artificial liana from his mouth and a loop of cord to help suspend him with. He will look very spectacular when he is mounted next week. We were slightly hamstrung by the fact that we had to wait in for the courier to come and pick up my coffee grinder but whilst we were waiting it was time to purchase my new car tax disc over the Internet and to order a new twenty two inch flat screen monitor to replace my Samsung one that died a couple of weeks ago. Donna insisted that I order one because she wants her monitor back. She has a project on the boil that she wants her own PC for and Donna, being Donna, it means that she is serious about something. So serious that she asked for my help in making a large pin board. So this afternoon it was off to the local DIY store to picky up some MDF board, some cork tiles and a pot of adhesive. We spent a glorious and sticky afternoon putting it all together but I am not going to spoil her project by telling you what it is and why a pin board that is six foot tall and eighteen inches wide is needed. Thankfully I purchased a large quantity of mapping pins a couple of months back so that is one thing she will not need to buy. Now, at the end of a wet and busy day, and the first one back on fasting after the bank holiday break, it purely remains for me to cook supper (which is currently simmering) and to think what I can photograph tomorrow. Here's a short animation that is unlikely to happen over here in the UK anytime soon. "Sunburn" SunBurn from Janine Chang on Vimeo. ![]() Last night's meal went down well and we had a pleasant evening even if Dick and Hilary looked absolutely shattered. First of all, we found out that their little West Highland terrier of some fifteen years had to be put down a couple of weeks back and they are trying to come to terms with that and that Dick had been unwell with a recurrent stomach problem that must be quite draining for him but mostly it is living in the same house as their daughter, prospective son-in-law and their new child that seems to be putting a lot of stress on them. The youngest daughter, Amanda, has just completed her degree course at Oxford and is quietly hoping for a first class degree so that is some good news in their lives at least. We didn't finish very late in the end but a lot of rich food was eaten and red wine quaffed so this morning both Donna and I felt a bit jaded and full enough to want to skip breakfast. So what is the best cure for this? That's right! A brisk walk on the South Downs. So we took ourselves off to Chanctonbury again and walked towards Steyning and toured around. Two hours and seven and a half miles later we had all the cobwebs blown away and were feeling a lot better. Thankfully the sun was shining but it was still a trifle cold in the breeze so not quite a summer's day yet. Our bee and beetle biome is complete and waiting for its first inhabitants (see pic above) and now all we have to put up with for the evening is the noisy neighbours having a noisy and noisome barbecue for the evening. Oh well, we can't have everything in life that we want to. Time for a G&T I think! Have a fun music video animation. LOU MARCO - DON'T CARE from LE GROUPUSCULE on Vimeo. ![]() It isn't often that we have our neighbours around for a meal but tonight is that night. We have a homemade pâté and garlic bread for starters (thanks for the recipe HH), a duck cassoulet with potatoes and green vegetables for a main course and lemon profiteroles to finish off with and I am sure that there will be copious quantities of wine as well. To this end we have been busy all day and apart from taking a nice walk around a beautiful part of Sussex the rest of the day has been a mix of cleaning and dusting, bathroom cleansing and hoovering. It is amazing how much one can get done when the need arises! The weather has been gorgeous and as I mentioned, Donna and I had a brisk three and a half miles walk around the environs of Pulborough. I am really hoping that we are going to get a few more of these sunny and warm days. At one point we were walking down a sunken lane and for a couple of minutes there was no man made noise at all. No cars, trains or planes. Just the sound of birds singing and the wind gently soughing in the boughs of the oak trees. It's times like these that I love. It takes me right back to my youth, walking in the lanes of very rural South Wales. As ever the silence didn't last long and the sound of a steam train whistle broke the silence. Steam train? Yes, one of the garden centres near where we park the car to start our walk has a miniature steam train that runs around the outer perimeter of the garden centre plot. So we visited to see what it was like. There was nothing especially different from any other garden centre apart from the miniature steam train but if you don't pop in to see, you will never know what you are missing. Right, more than enough blather... It is time for me to go and get scrubbed up and changed in readiness for the pending visit. Here's a charming little animation for you "Pig Box" Pig Box from David Chao on Vimeo. It isn't often that i take a night off from blogging but after a packed and busy day in London yesterday and a busy enough day today I think I am going to do just that. We've shopped, walked, gardened and finished our bee and beetle biome which now hangs facing southwards (as it should do) and is waiting for insects and beetles to inhabit it. It's just another part of making the garden more environmentally friendly. We are going to have roast chicken with all the trimmings and a nice glass of wine. I am not even going to telephone my parents tonight. I feel that I deserve some time off for good behaviour. I even cheated a bit on my photograph of the day by doing a time lapse animation of me cutting the lawn. If only it was this easy... See you all tomorrow! ![]() ...a Bank Holiday! Hooray! It's a swift entry today as we have just got back from Londinium. Because Donna had performed a lot of extra hours (and I mean "a lot") this week, she had the afternoon off at the Government's expense. She had organised a trip around the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce) some weeks ago so that was why I was up in town too. I spent the morning reading whilst Donna was working and then after a quick lunch it was off for the tour. What a fascinating place it is too! It has very strong historical connections with many famous artists and the list of presidents was impressive... There were figures of the royal family in there and well known scientists and musicians such as Sir Christopher Cockerell (inventor of the hovercraft), Barnes Wallis (Dambusters bouncing bomb fame), Steven Hawking (wheelchair bound brainbox) and Yehudi Menuhin (violinist extraordinaire). There were amazing pieces of art everywhere from the sort you see in frames in galleries through to the James Barry picture frieze that adorns the walls of the Great Room and Angelica Kaufman ceiling paintings. A good time was had by all and I am going to see if I can't become a Fellow of this fine organisation. After that we wandered over to the British Academy (in the rain) to see the book carving exhibition by Justin Rowe. The article on the BBC News website looked as if the show could be quite spectacular however in reality it wasn't. It was rather tacky really, and I don't think that I would recommend it to anyone. It looked very amateurish to be quite honest. Anyway, regardless of that, I hope that you are all going to have a splendid Bank Holiday weekend despite the worst that the British can throw at us (rain again!). Here's a video clip that proves that animals are awesome. ![]() Twice this week I have been surprised to find customer service that has been a pleasure to receive. The first of these was from Purina, the manufacturers of Felix cat food. A few weeks ago, Donna found one sachet of kitty nosh had not been sealed properly and had consequently gone off. We wrote to the customer service department to tell them this and lo and behold, six pounds of vouchers turned up in the post a mere week or so after posting the letter. That equates to about two boxes full of moggy din-dins, or to put it in perspective, that's twenty four sachets of food. Not bad for one polite letter's worth of writing. The second piece of service happened today. My lovely Krups coffee grinder that Donna bought me for Christmas has died a death. Seeing as it is under warranty, I dug out the paperwork and found that I needed to phone a number. The lady there explained that I had got the wrong department and put me through to the right one where they could not have been more helpful. The long and the short of it is that they are sending a courier to pick up the defective unit on Tuesday after the Bank holiday and will fix or replace the defective device and I will have the result returned to me by courier within seven working days. I was half expecting to be told to package it up and send it off and then not expect to see anything this side of the end of June. It is always pleasing when one comes across good service like this. It makes me feel good for once that I haven't had to moan about anything. I might be late blogging tomorrow because I am back up in London. Have a fun, tongue in che video about the Aye Aye. I have achieved the square root of zilch today. The only observation I have made is that people are sad. There is a bunch of council houses near here which are having some work done to them so scaffolding has gone up along the front of this particular row of buildings. As if the workmen have nothing better to do, today I found one of them uninstalling peoples sky TV dishes from the walls of the houses and then reattaching them to the outer facing vertical scaffolding poles and then realigning the dishes so that these council tenants can have their satellite television while whatever work is being done is performed. Now, I was of the opinion that the people who deserve council accommodation are not particularly wealthy nature so what on earth are they doing forking out sums of money on satellite subscriptions? You can almost suggest that they don't have a grotty little television set indoors but something whizzy and space age and probably huge to boot. If they can afford that sort of thing then surely they aren't as poor as church mice and could probably afford something on the housing market? Call me a miserable old grump if you will but there are folks out there who can't afford housing or satellite TV who need that property more. There; I have had my mandatory moan for the day. I thought this was fun. I think that I need some of these light pois. ![]() I'm back again and the rhubarb didn't do any damage so I think that I will ignore the fact that people tell me that it is poisonous, not fibre filled, full of calories etc. Today's picture is in response to my constant wingeing about my increasing bald patch. I opened up one of Donna's spell books and found several "How to cure baldness" spells. OK - I don't think that I will try them but the question that springs to mind is "Why are there so many spells to cure it?" Shouldn't there be just one? Surprisingly a lot of them have one vital thing in common. The substances (as diverse as midsummer ashes and lunar impregnated water to vodka and onions) say "and rub the mixture vigorously into the scalp." and thereby lies the power of these spells. A lot of baldness could be put off for a few years if people massaged their scalps to improve blood flow to the hair roots. Something else I have been doing in the past few days is to increase the amount of fluids I take in. IN particular good old fashioned water. I noticed that my intake of water has dropped and is being replaced by coffee. Coffee being a diuretic is not a good thing as it actively removes water fromt he body. So I have a pint glass by the kitchen sink and I make sure that i drink at least four pints of water per day. It does mean more frequent visits to the toilet but that is a small proce to pay for remaining properly hydrated (remember I mentioned how good it was for father in law when he had his cancer treatment a couple of weeks back?) Well, if it is sauce for the goose, it is sauce for the gander too. Apart form that, not a great deal has happened today. After a broken night's sleep I have been feeling a tad weary today. That probably explains the number of phone calls from fake computer companies and the number of taps on the front door, one of which was the local police telling me how to protect myself from car crime - yes, the local area got hit by some car thieves the other day, so the police are being reactive again. Now for the most uncomfortable experience a man can have... or rather a whole compilation of them. What on earth is going on? Yesterday I plucked a large crop of rhubarb from the garden and stewed it up with a little of (non-sugar) sweetener, the idea being that when I was a kid, stewed rhubarb was deemed to be good for you (kept your bowels regular etc). Now I find that (a) it is quite calorific in its own right (even without the sugar) and (b) as a source of dietary fibre it is regarded as poor! So what happened then? I am not going to stop eating it because it is an excellent vegetable (even if we do eat it sweetened). It still keeps me regular. That much hasn't changed. What next? Burgers are good for you? White bread is excellent? Anyway, with two large bowls full of the stuff floating around my system, some strawberries and some cherries, not to mention the nectarine, satsuma and plum plus the evening chicken casserole (which is mostly vegetables) I must be doing something right because I have lost another half a pound this week. Either that or I am going to kill myself and I should have just continued stuffing rare steaks, fatty chops, burgers, chips and chocolate éclairs instead of being good. Today has been a day of odds and ends (apart from the photography - see above) but the best bit has been painting Iggy. For those of you who know about Iggy, you won't be surprised. For those of you who don't know, then you might want to come to the East Grinstead museum in early June to meet Iggy in person. Now for something educational. Ah but where has the weekend gone to? For that matter, where has the week gone to? Today was supposed to be wet but the rain didn't appear thankfully. So we took ourselves off out for a walk to get some exercise and burn off more fat. Returning home, there was the usual modicuk, of gardening and I had to get my photograph for the day (see above). Strangely enough it began as a photograph of a brass sun plaque that we have but when I saw Buddha looking all contemplative, I just had to take that instead.
Donna went through one of her "Why don't WE..." moments which means that I ended up starting the construction of a bee and beetle biome. Needless to say Donna wanted it far too large and I had to convince her to let me make it half the size and even then it is too big! Anyway, the basic construction is done now and all we have to do is fill it with lengths of bamboo and pine cones. Everything was going swimmingly until I sliced into the top of my thumb with a sharp saw. That's when I decided that WE would call it a day. I still have to look at my pictures from Friday to make sure that I don't need to return for a second go at the clock and I need to do a lot of admin things this coming week too. Ho hum, no rest for the wicked. I watched a truly awful film yesterday. "Battleship" starring Taylor Kitsch. It got a right slating from the critics which normally means that I would like it but for once, the critics had it right. Truly dreadful. I'm not sure if I have told you or not but our Housemartins made a late appearance (almost a month late!) and have started to colonise their old nests once more. Hopefully that means a couple of broods of youngsters to keep me entertained. The only other thing of interest to note is that my friend OE is going to be having a "girlie barbie" this week which will involve lots of "sex on the beach" apparently (her quotes, not mine!). Apparently this means that it is a ladies only barbecue and that there are going to be lots of cocktails to be had. Needless to say, I haven't been invited. Have a nice animation and have a great week ahead. ![]() Today was another rather nice day and we were awake reasonably early. Thus we decided to go into town early. On the positive side we found a few nice books and an exceptionally nice, large wickerwork chest in the charity shops. The chest will do really nicely for storing all my boxes of slides in which means that I can move them from under the futon in my study where they are gathering plenty of dust and debris that has fallen through the cushions on my futon. On the negative side we came across the most disgusting family out in one of the shops. I'm not being snobbish when I say that in general you won't catch me in Poundland. There are plenty of bargains to be found, particularly if you are looking for things that are ephemeral. In my case I wanted some wallpaper paste for a project I am involved in and likewise I needed some hairy garden string for the same purpose. So we wandered around Poundland and found these items with very few problems. No, it's not the shop I object to, it;s some of the people who frequent them. For example, in front of us was an extended family of Mum, Dad, three or four kids and an aunty. They were clean enough but their manners left a huge amount to be desired. Their language was vile, their personal habits were disgusting and overall their behaviour was totally shocking. I was appalled, Donna was appalled and we both felt ashamed to be part of the same species. The problem is that they are representative of their kind and are what we refer to as "the lowest common denominator". They make no aspirations to "raise their game" and try to drag everything down to their level. I shudder to think that these people breed. On returning home I threw myself into the frenzied activity of the day which is to complete a dinosaurs head for the forthcoming display at the East Grinstead Museum (yes, that is what I have been working on). The bulk of the head has been built and today received the rough skin of wallpaper that will simulate skin. Once this has dried all I have to do is to paint it and that part of the project will be done and dusted. It's a a shame that Iggy is a plant eater. I would like to have set him upon the foul family from this morning! Anyway... meet "Fred" Fred from Misha Klein on Vimeo. I have just spent the day photographing a rare clock. If you have ever heard of Tompion then you will know just how rare and valuable this clock is. That has accounted for most of the day apart from a couple of hours when I had the chance to walk around London to get some fresh (?) air. Everything was fine until I went into the National Gallery and thought "I should pop into he shop and buy Aunty Marg a postcard." like I always do... did.... Then the tears welled up and I had to leave in a hurry. I also went into the National Portrait Gallery and left in a hurry because it is the unfriendliest museum that I have ever had the mispleasure of walking into. Now I am tired. The car passed its MoT test today and had a service and there are things that need to be done that should have been done a few years back and I need to find out exactly what I have paid for and what I have had done in the past (memo to me: check bills and invoices). So that is it for today - unless you like seeing people do stupid things on trampolines, that is! |
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May 2015
AuthorPaul Everest - Shining wit (at least that is what I think they said) |